


Wardrobe Malfunction

by missingnolovefic



Category: Lazer Team (2015)
Genre: Bullying, Canon-typical language, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Getting Together, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 06:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8193700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingnolovefic/pseuds/missingnolovefic
Summary: The suit malfunctions and sends them back in time. Woody is resigned to relive his life more or less the same. Zach has other plans.In which Woody is oblivious, has a crush and ends up with Zach despite his internal angsting.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [kayssna](http://kayssna.tumblr.com) for cheering me on, and [fangirlsanity](http://fangirlsanity.tumblr.com) for the quick beta.
> 
> For LT weekly challenge, prompt "things you said that I wasn't meant to hear"
> 
> (just because there's no time travel prompt doesn't mean I can't write time travel. You can pry this trope from my cold, dead fingers.)

Woody has forgotten how bad some days used to be, back before he dropped out of high school. He remembers it vaguely, like a bad dream, being pushed around and called names, but he’s never let himself linger on such things. It’s easier to just move on.

He is being reminded of it now. Vividly.

“Johnson,” a big guy greets him - he used to be on the football team, Woody thinks, back before everything happened. He can’t even remember his name, but he remembers that voice.

“Watcha want?” he asks amicably enough, but his muscles lock in place. There’s still a chance he’s mistaking the cues. It’s been awhile since he’s been bullied, after all.

“Oh, there’s just too many possible answers to that question,” another guy pipes up with an ugly snicker. Richards? Reinhardts? Something like that. “How about we start with dinner, how does that sound?”

“Thanks, but I already ate,” Woody says flatly, putting on his best dumb grin. The jocks exchange a look.

“Then you won’t mind pitching in for ours, right guys?” the first one declares, a third one cracking his knuckles. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you hand over your homework?”

“Oh! I don’t think I can be of much help there.” Woody glances warily between them, wondering why they even bothered. It was well-known throughout town that he's as stupid as an empty can. “I can’t believe Mistah Sun ain’t failed me yet.”

The guys are starting to get riled up with all the lip he’s giving them. Might be time to skedaddle. He inches away, slowly putting some distance between them. Rickson notices.

“Not so fast, Johns-” He makes to grab for Woody, but trained reflexes kick in, and Woody dodges. Their eyes meet for a second, and Woody gulps. Rigby’s lips curl up in a snarl.

Woody turns on his heel and _runs._

He zigzags through the corridors, taking sharp turns whenever he can. He crashes through the lab in hopes of finding others there, working late or cleaning up after class. They must be long gone or outside, however, enjoying the good weather.

Woody barely manages to tumble through an open window, fingers grazing the back of his jacket as he scrambles through. He lands on his ass with a _thump_. Shaking his head, he quickly gets to his feet as his pursuers - fitter than him, used to running around at reckless speeds - try to fit their jacked up bodies through the narrow window.

Woody whips around the corner, nearly colliding with some girls sitting in the grass, eating take-out as the sun sets. They screech loudly as he trips over one leg and hops over another.

“Sorry!” he yells as he stumbles past, keeping an eye on the windows. He needs to get back inside to have any hope of losing them- there! He scrabbles up the low wall, crawling into a random classroom. Inside, he crouches down, inching his way along the tables towards the door.

“He went in there!” A shrill voice echoes from outside, and Woody flinches. “Fucker spilled sauce all over my blouse!”

Woody jumps up hurriedly, crashing into a table in his haste to get out of the room. One of the bullies appears in the window.

“There he is!” he shouts, but Woody doesn’t wait around for them to catch up. He hightails it down mostly empty corridors, panting. His stamina still isn’t the best, he needs a _plan._

One of the corridors shorted out yesterday, he vaguely recalls. Someone in his class complained about the lack of lights at their locker, having to get their books in the dark. Maybe he can hide there.

Behind him he hears the jocks stampede after him, throwing open doors along the way and checking if he’s hiding anywhere. Good. That might buy him just enough time.

He has to slow down as he gets to the lightless hallway, one hand brushing against the lockers to guide him. His heart is beating fast and his breathing seems to echo loudly through the hall. Somewhere to hide, he needs somewhere to-

“Oy, Zachary!” one of his pursuers calls out, and Woody holds his breath. “Seen Johnson around?”

“No,” the new person responds, and Woody would recognize it anywhere. Zach. “Why?”

“The idiot owes us,” one of the bullies replies casually, and Woody imagines him waggling his brows. “If you know what I mean.”

“I don’t,” Zach shuts him down curtly, the normal aggressiveness in his voice rising a notch. If Woody didn’t know better, he’d say Zach is spoiling for a fight.

(Who is he kidding, Zach is _always_ ready to throw down. It shouldn’t be nearly as endearing.)

He’s been crushing on the other boy for a while now. It’s entirely unrequited, he’s aware. Zach has only shown interest in girls, and Mindy in particular. It’s inevitable that they’ll start dating again. He’s not getting his hopes up, it’s fine, he came to terms with it a long time ago.

He mostly tunes out what his tormentors have to say about him (it’s nothing he hasn’t heard before, they’re not very original), and slowly makes his way along the lockers in the dim light of the windowless corridor, trying to find somewhere to hide where they can’t find him.

It’s times like these he really misses the helmet. If he only could see in the low light, through the walls… Still he finds a gap between the lockers and squeezes himself between them. Voices still echo through the corridor, and Woody holds his breath at sound of footsteps.

They stop just around the corner.

“...he’s a retard, after all,” one of the jocks finishes his monologue and the others laugh.

“Yeah, he’s a dumb bitch,” he hears Zach agree and freezes, heart dropping like a stone.

 

* * *

 

This is how it goes: They crash an alien airship, get a little too attached to the armour and somewhere along the way they defeat the Worg, save the world, only to be sent off to space.

This is what they expect: They’re off to fight the Antareans, to protect the Earth and return as heroes. They get along surprisingly well, having grown close during all those hours of training and the sometimes sharing of Woody’s headspace. They’re not sure what to expect of the Antareans, if they’ll have armies of people in suits like this or what other technology they might come across.

They’re optimistic, though. They’ve beaten the odds before and emerged victorious.

This isn’t how it was supposed to go: The timer is ticking down and Zach is screaming in his ear, Herman is pulling at his shoulder and Hagan’s shield is up, and Woody knows they’re running out of time, knows how to defuse the bomb but it’s not enough. Calculations rush across his visor and through his mind, but even at Herman’s top speed and with Hagan shielding them they won’t make it-

This is what happens: They find an alternate solution.

This is what happens after (or chronologically, before): They end up back on Earth, without the suit, and the wrong date on the calendar. No one knows about DETIA, no one has heard of Lazer Team and aliens are still a thing of conspiracy theories. It’s two years before the crash, and they don’t quite know how it happened.

They turn to Woody for theories, but his head feels light without the weight of the helmet.

 

* * *

 

“Yeah, he’s a dumb bitch,” Zach says, and Woody freezes in place. “But he’s _my_ dumb bitch, so you fuckers better leave him the fuck alone.”

There’s some muttering and jeering, some posturing from other people in the background, but Woody can’t quite manage to hear them. Blood is rushing loudly through his ears and his heart is threatening to jump out of his chest. Footsteps echo through the hall, growing quiet with distance. The only sound left is his unsteady breathing and-

“Bastards,” Zach hisses, and his voice is closer now. Woody presses himself firmly against the wall, in the space between the lockers and hopes Zach won’t see him as he rounds the corner.

Brown eyes meet his squarely, and Zach does a double-take at finding him there. For a breath, everything seems to stop, and then- colour rushes into Zach’s face, his cheeks flushing bright red, and Woody tries to still the tremble in his fingers. He tightens them into fists.

“Woody?” Zach asks, and his brow is furrowing. He glances over his shoulder quickly, but there’s no one else left in the hall now that the guys bullying Woody are gone. Zach clears his throat, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “Did you… hear any of that?”

“Yours?” Woody croaks, his heart beating fast, and he has to lean against the wall to keep upright. Zach’s eyes widen, and he takes a step back.

“Well, you know,” he starts awkwardly, glancing away. “You’re part of my team, right? So you’re ours, yeah?”

“But we’re not a team anymore,” Woody blurts out, even as his brain gets stuck on _ours, not mine_. “You don’t have to…” he trails off helplessly, not sure how to articulate his feelings.

“We’re not a team _yet_ ,” Zach corrects him harshly, stepping up to him and grabbing him by the shoulders. “We used to be and we _will be_ , and that’s all that matters, okay? We gotta stick together.”

 

* * *

 

It’s weird, returning to their past lives. Woody loses the British accent, and once they convince themselves that this is real, not a trick, not a simulation- well. They split up, going back home like nothing’s changed.

Some days Woody wonders if any of it was real.

But the other timeline left their marks on them. They’re all fitter, for one, and still retain their hard-earned reflexes, as Zach finds out the hard way during a party, when someone sneaks up on him. For another, they all have the scars they acquired in the years-that-haven’t-happened-yet, even though Zach and Woody both look decidedly younger again.

More startlingly for Woody are the odd pieces of information stuck in his head.

In math, he has a hard time with the supposedly easier problems, but as the difficulty increases, some numbers come to him and he writes them down, even though he can’t explain the conclusion. He remembers the speed of light and sound, half the theory behind laser energy, and miscellaneous space physics.

Maybe he’s not that stupid, after all.

Maybe he just needs longer until it clicks, or maybe the helmet changed his brain chemistry. Maybe he finds it easier to study, now that he knows how important that edge will be later on. It doesn’t matter. Whether it’s a matter of nature or nurture, if the educational system failed him or not - he actually manages to keep just above a failing grade and doesn’t drop out.

He might just be able to do this thing.

 

* * *

 

Now that the words are in his head, Woody has a hard time forgetting them. He starts noticing things - how Zach always keeps him in his sight, makes an effort to include him at group outings or parties. The way he sometimes brushes against Woody, lingering a little longer than necessary.

Woody isn’t sure what it means.

There’s still Mindy to consider. She’s currently dating someone else (not from the football team, but an athlete. Woody can’t remember what happened with them, but they had to break up at some point for her and Zach to start dating). Hagan unintentionally keeps reminding him of this, muttering under his breath how his baby girl deserves better than this lug, even if ‘better’ means Zach.

Zach, however, doesn’t make a move on her, as far as Woody knows.

“I was an ass to them, last time around,” Zach confesses out of the blue one night as they drink beers outside of Woody’s house. Technically they’re old enough, if you count the time travel, but better not let Hagan know. Just in case.

“What do you mean?” Woody asks, turning to face his friend. “Who?”

“Mindy and Jake,” he replies, staring thoughtfully at the empty bottle he’s holding. “I got jealous, wanted to date her myself. Last time. I wonder how they’ll do now, without me messing around.”

“Don’t you want to get with Mindy?” Woody tilts his head and bites his lip. “Weren’t you dating back when?”

“Nah.” Zach puts the bottle down with a sigh and leans back on his elbows to watch the stars. “We broke up before we went to space. No sense in forcing her to wait for me, is there?” There’s a beat of silence, before Zach hastily adds on, “And in case I wanted to bang any alien chicks, of course.”

Woody gives him a long look, but doesn’t call him out on it. Instead he hums thoughtfully, repeating his line in this argument like steps of a well-learned dance.

“Humans might not be compatible with alien races, even if we meet humanoids,” he points out, and something of that British accent sneaks in. Zach throws his head back and laughs.

“Asshole,” he says fondly, and when he turns to look at Woody his eyes are sparkling. “You don’t know that! And how would I know unless I tried?”

He gets up and gets another beer, and they drink in comfortable silence.

“What about now, though?” Woody lies back, turning on his side to watch Zach. “We’re not going to space for at least two years.”

Zach stares down and starts pulling up grass by the roots. He looks troubled, Woody thinks. It’s a weird expression, considering how much Zach likes to appear confident, no matter what.

“It’s weird now, isn’t it?” he finally offers, still not looking at Woody. “How would I even start to explain things? Yeah, hi, I’m gonna be a space warrior and fight aliens and I know all of this because I travelled back in time?” Zach snorts, tossing Woody a half-hearted grin. “Yeah, that’ll go over well. There’s a reason we decided not to tell anyone.”

Woody sits up, frowning. He opens and closes his mouth, unsure what to say.

“Going by that reasoning, you might not date ever again,” is what he settles on, shoulders hunching around his ears. Zach just shrugs.

“At least not until I get some sweet alien gear and become an awesome space warrior,” Zach jokes, bumping their shoulders together.

Woody bites his lower lip and looks away. For a second, something like hope has blossomed in his chest. He crushes it ruthlessly.

 

* * *

 

He settles down at their campfire after the game, just like old times. Except that this time, like every time since they’ve travelled back, Zach has invited him along to the afterparty. The rest of the team keep shooting him weird looks, but Woody couldn’t care less, feeling like part of the team for once despite just being the waterboy. And maybe that’s not the only reason his heart flutters when Zach smiles at him, how thrilled he seems whenever Woody tags along.

Tonight he declines though, citing Herman as his excuse. Zach lets it go, knowing how much Herman still nurses the hurt from way back, even if he’s begrudgingly made up with Hagan.

But that’s not really why Woody says no, if he’s being honest with himself.

He’s not feeling particular social, not up to dealing with the rest of the team. They’ve gotten better about snubbing him since Zach started sticking up for him, even as they’re uncertain how to treat him. He’s not part of the team, but he belongs now, belongs by Zach’s side and that’s enough for them to be friendly at least.

They’re getting better about it, too. Greeting him when he’s not with Zach, remembering details he’s told them. It’s… weird, but the good kind of weird.

“So much has changed,” Woody muses, nursing his beer. Herman never minds getting him alcohol, used to even before. A way of thumbing his nose at Hagan, Woody assumes. “Some things are durn different from last time.”

Herman grunts, tipping his bottle back and emptying it in a couple long swallows.

“Are they,” he grumbles, tilting his head to observe Woody better. “Hadn’t noticed.”

Woody laughs, recognizing the wry tone for Herman’s brand of sarcastic humour. It’s exactly what he needs, and for a moment he allows himself to relax. All too soon, his thoughts circle back to the topic of his confusion, however.

“Zach’s been acting strange,” he brings up carefully, shooting Herman a look from the corner of his eyes. The older man seems amused.

“Oh? I thought you got over the buddy-buddy weirdness,” Herman chortles, and Woody flushes a deep red. A friendly Zach had him flummoxed, at first, and he’d talked through his tangled emotions with Herman then, too.

“Stranger, I mean,” he amends with a grimace and a one-shouldered shrug. He picks up a branch and starts poking at the fire. “He hit Jake out of the blue the other day.”

“Jake?” Herman asks quizzically, and Woody ducks his head.

“Mindy’s boyfriend. Zach’s been playing nice, and he’s been trying really hard, too.”

It confuses Woody, why Zach would ruin things like that when he put so much effort into establishing a rapport. He and Mindy are pretty close friends, now that they aren’t dating, and Woody wonders about that sometimes, too. Will they start once the public is alerted to the aliens’ existence? It’s still a good year until the crash, though, why would Zach change his mind so suddenly?

“Out of the blue, hm?” Herman is smiling teasingly, like he knows something Woody doesn’t. “What were they talking about?”

“I’m not sure,” Woody confesses, propping his head on his fist and staring into the fire. “Jake was asking me something about Mindy - he saw her giving me a ride the other day, see? And like, just typical jock posturing. Y’know.”

Herman’s eyebrows fly up, but he nods slowly. His secretive smile is starting to bother Woody.

“And you have no clue why Zach punched him?”

Woody gives his friend a long look, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. Zach and Mindy get on well, even if Zach says he doesn’t want to date her ( _yet_ ). Her boyfriend was insinuating she and Woody had a thing - warning him off, basically, right? At least he thinks that’s where he was going.

Did Zach take exception to Jake indirectly calling Mindy a slut?

Frowning, Woody throws the stick into the fire, watching the flames rise higher, even as his spirits sink.

But what else could it be?

 

* * *

 

This is what he dreams of: a timer counting down the seconds, schematics shining brightly in his face, while calculations run in the back of the mind. The sheer panic when he realizes it’s not enough, they don’t have time, he’s not fast enough, Herman isn’t either and Hagan’s shield won’t hold this close to the blast zone.

“There must be a way!” Zach screams in his ear, in his mind. “The suit can do everything, there must be _something-_ ”

It’s a malfunction that saves their lives in the end.

This is another dream: hands all over his body, hot lips against his pulse, a wet tongue down his chest. Fingers pulling at his hair, a warm body moving rhythmically against his own. A wild mop of curls between his legs or against his throat, a very familiar chuckle in his ear.

He wakes up to wet blankets and phantom touches running shivers down his spine.

This he doesn’t dare even in a dream: a warm body spooning him as he wakes, a shoulder to rest his head on, a laugh and a smile, beautiful brown eyes following him, a kiss good morning and a kiss goodnight, fond insults in his ear as a hand slips into his jeans pocket, warm and possessive and _claiming._

 

* * *

 

He’s hiding under the bleachers, well away from Jake and his friends, in case they want to make things square by going after Woody. He’s not exactly avoiding Zach, but he still can’t get his head around the other boy’s actions, and maybe he’s indulging in some self-pity for once. He thinks he should be over his unrequited crush by now.

...he’s totally avoiding Zach.

With a sigh, he bumps his head against one of the support beams as he slumps onto the ground. It’s peaceful down here, no sounds except for birdsong, the wind rustling through the leaves and distant laughter echoing from the school. Woody closes his eyes and tunes the world out, the birds, the leaves, the footsteps on top of the bleachers-

Woody stills, eyes going wide. Two voices drift down to him, no too far from where he’s hiding. Two very similar voices. Woody stifles a groan, not wanting to give himself away.

So much for avoiding Zach.

“Look, I don’t care _why_ you did it,” Mindy says, and her voice sounds tight. Woody imagines her pursing her lips as the silence stretches uncomfortably. “That’s a lie, I do care, but at this point I’d take a straight answer.”

“I know you guys have been dating-” Zach replies tersely, and Woody tenses, hugging his knees close to his chest.

“Is it about that? Are you jealous, Zach?” Mindy’s tone of voice turns accusatory, but Woody can hear the strained frustration beneath the annoyance. “Jake’s just brushing me off, calls it a misunderstanding, and it’s pissing me off-”

“It’s not like that!” Zach bursts out. There’s a pause where Woody imagines Mindy’s giving him a disbelieving look because Zach reluctantly amends, “Okay, so maybe it’s a little like that. What do you want to hear? Yeah, I was fucking jealous when the two of you got together. I got over it. I’d like to think I’m a better friend than that.”

Woody holds his breath, listening intently. For a moment no one speaks. He wonders what’s going on, half-heartedly wishes he could _see_ them. In his head, he thinks of Zach pacing agitatedly, but there are no footsteps to collaborate the image.

“I got over it,” Zach repeats softly, and there’s a quiet thump. “It wasn’t about that. You wanna date Jake, I can respect that.”

“What happened?” Mindy asks, her voice calmer, coaxing. “I know you love to fight, Zach, but you always find an excuse first.” She waits a beat, another- “What did he do?”

“He was harassing Woody,” Zach admits, and it comes out like a hiss, like he’s pressing the words out from behind clenched teeth. Woody sucks in a breath, fingers digging into his shins.

“Ah.” Mindy doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and Woody starts panicking, trying to figure out how to leave. But if he makes a sound now they’ll notice, and Zach will know he eavesdropped, and that would be even _worse_ -

“What you’re looking at me for?” Zach snaps. Mindy giggles. “It’s not funny! Your boyfriend was being an ass to my- my friend.”

“Uh huh. You were gonna say boyfriend, weren’t you?”

Woody’s heart stops.

“I- we’re not- that’s not-” Zach splutters. Silence again, and Woody strains his ears, needing to know for _sure_.

“You really like him, huh?” Mindy muses, her tone full of fond affection.

“Fuck off,” Zach grumbles, and while it isn’t quite a confession, it’s not denial either.

 

* * *

 

This is what he expected when they came back in time: to spend two years reliving his previous life. It wasn’t particularly good nor particularly bad, and there’s nothing really big he wants to change.

It turned out well enough the first time around, right?

And this he was half-expecting: hanging out with Herman, and it’s something of a comfort. He’s not quite surprised when Hagan joins them. He and Herman are getting along better now, used to be childhood friends. It must be wearing the older man thin, too, dealing with his family when they _can’t_ know, can’t be told. Not quite yet, if ever.

(And then Zach starts showing up, which confuses Woody to no end, but he’d be damned to say anything.)

This isn’t what he expects, not at all: things changed a lot, on a small scale. Woody’s friends with all three of his teammates, and Zach makes an effort to include him more, to integrate him into his friend groups. He doesn’t have to, but he stands up for Woody, opens opportunities for him and changes his life completely.

And Woody falls in love.

 

* * *

 

They win the next game, and Woody can’t stop grinning, hooting and hollering from the outskirts. He can pick out Zach’s laugh, the quarterback surrounded by the rest of his team as they celebrate him, and he pulls off his helmet.

 _Oh,_ Woody thinks, watching him throw back his head and laugh, sweaty curls gleaming red where they catch the sunlight.

Zach fights himself free of the mass of people coming to congratulate him, and if Woody’s smile is a little wistful he’s sure no one will notice. Zach is grinning and waving at him, so Woody shoots him a double thumbs up. Zach laughs, shaking his head and makes his way through the crowd to hug Woody.

“We did it!” he whoops as he whirls him around, and Woody puts his hands on his shoulders to steady himself, laughing in the face of Zach’s infectious enthusiasm.

“We did,” he agrees, wobbling a little when Zach puts him down. His brown eyes are on fire, and Woody could get lost in them, and maybe he’s a bit distracted, but then there are hands cupping his face, gentle and warm, and lips on his, firm and insistent.

 _Oh_ , he thinks as Zach pulls back, licking his lips and watching Woody with hooded eyes. He sways forward, and Zach moves to meet him halfway, and they’re kissing again.

 _Oh._ And Woody stops thinking.

 

* * *

 

Zach pushes him up against the wall, and Woody’s fingers dance over his shoulders, down his chest.

“Hey there,” Zach murmurs, nose brushing over Woody’s cheek, bracing his arms on either side of his head. His lips graze over stubble, and Woody’s hands settle on his hips.

“Hello,” he replies, relishing in his deep southern tang. One of Zach’s hands wonders down his chest, circling his belt buckle before coming to a rest on his thigh, fingers tapping casually close to Woody’s dick.

“Wanna compare goods later?” Zach asks mildly, sucking Woody’s earlobe into his mouth immediately after. Distracted, it takes Woody a moment to catch his meaning.

“What, like a pissing contest?”

Zach gives him a fondly annoyed look, hand trailing up to settle on his belt instead, making Woody’s breath hitch. Woody’s fingers skim up his shirt, wandering over Zach’s lower back.

“As if there’s any question who’s packing more.” Zach shakes his head ruefully. “It’s not like those suits actually hid anything when they were riding up your ass,” he adds off-handedly, hand dropping a little lower on his waistband.

“I wanna ride up your ass,” Woody blurts out, pressing closer to Zach, before his brain catches up with his mouth. “Um. I mean-”

Zach stares at him for a long second. Then he bursts out laughing, collapsing against Woody and hitting him lightly against the shoulder.

“Smooth, Woody,” he chuckles. “Real smooth.”

“Are you making fun of me?” he asks, frowning down at Zach. “Oy!”

Zach starts laughing harder, holding onto Woody, and that’s kinda okay, too.

 

* * *

 

This never happened before: they hang out together a lot, and maybe they’ve been dating for a while, it just took them some time to realize it. And perhaps Woody would be more cautious, except he can see the look in Zach’s eyes. That’s how he looked at Mindy, before, and that’s how he’s looking at Woody now.

This somehow happened anyway: they’re about to finish school together, and they meet up with Herman and Hagan a lot, and Woody’s sort of friends with Mindy, who was supposed to end up with Zach, but Woody ended up with Zach, and he doesn’t quite know how it happened, but they’re all happy. Mindy breaks up with Jake, but he’s sure she’ll find someone worth her while.

They’re young yet, even after everything.

 

* * *

 

“Are we sure about this?” Woody asks, pressed against Zach’s side. Their timing in shooting the fireworks has been a bit off, the crash site several hundred feet away from where it hit last time, but at least they managed to shoot it down.

Woody has had his doubts about that, considering how much of it was an accident last time.

“Hell yeah, I’m sure,” Zach replies enthusiastically, grinning up at him. Something tightens in Woody’s chest. “Can’t wait to have my sweet, sweet baby back.”

“Even if you can’t jerk off with your right hand?” Hagan snarks, but he’s already moving up to the wreck.

“That’s what I have Woody for,” Zach grins back at the other man, and Woody blushes furiously. Herman shoots him a knowing look.

“Last time was an accident,” Hagan starts pensively, holding up the shield piece. He turns it in his hands, then looks up at the others. “This time, it’s our choice. You with me, guys?”

Instead of answering, Zach steps forward with a grin, picking up the laser gun. Woody follows him, staring at the helmet. Choices. Choice is what brings them here today, and if they don’t do that, who knows how it will turn out? It turned out for the best last time, and they’re better prepared now, already a team.

Still, he hesitates. Zach, about to put on the glove, looks up at the last moment. He must see something on his face because he lowers the gun and takes a step towards him.

“Woody?” he asks carefully, laying a hand on his shoulder. Woody is overly aware of Herman and Hagan watching them. “Is everything okay?”

Woody licks his lips, eyes fixed on the helmet. His helmet. He’s missed it often enough in these last two years, but is that really worth it?

“It’s a big change,” he says awkwardly, helpless to put his feelings into words. Zach waits him out patiently, and isn’t that the biggest change? “We never figured out how to open the visor. Or if we could take them off.”

He looks up and catches Zach’s eyes fearfully.

“I couldn’t taste, I couldn’t smell - I might never be able to eat a burger again.” _Never be able to kiss you_ , he doesn’t say but he can see the moment the implications dawn on Zach. He steps forward, catching Woody’s hand and squeezing.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, knocking their foreheads together. “I just assumed… We should have talked about this first.”

Woody just shrugs awkwardly. For all that he enjoys dating Zach, he’s never really assumed it would last. Now, a good year later, they’re still together. He’s not sure what that says about him, or Zach.

“We’ll figure out a way,” Zach says lowly, insistently. “I’ll kiss you in the mindlink - remember that? And I’ll kiss you right now,” and he leans in, peppering Woody’s face with quick kisses, from his brow to the corner of his mouth. There he stops, taking his time to graze his lips over Woody’s, to catch his lower lip between his own.

“You’ll miss this,” Woody refutes, pulling back sadly. “You’ll miss this and won’t want to be with me anymore.”

“Then we don’t do this,” Zach relies immediately, fiercely. “I’ll still want you, but if you don’t want this- this burden. I’m sorry, I didn’t think. We’ll make it work either way, but we’re in or out, together.”

Woody looks at him with big eyes, hands trembling. Zach grabs his wrists, thumbs rubbing soothing circles into his skin.

“You want this, though,” he speaks up hesitantly, biting his lower lip. “You’ve wanted this since we came back.”

“And I’ve never asked if _you_ wanted to,” Zach retorts hotly, pulling him closer. “This isn’t just about me.”

“Isn’t it?” Woody jokes, and Zach gives him a crooked grin. He takes a deep breath. “Promise me.”

“I promise,” Zach says instantly, eyes serious. He entangles their fingers, squeezing hard. “I’ll be with you, one way or another.”

And maybe they won’t keep dating, maybe one day they’ll break up. But they were friends first, and Woody is vividly reminded of that fact now. If he does this, Zach will stand by his side, as a friend or a lover. And he won’t be alone, either, with Herman and Hagan and Mindy...

In the end, it comes down to choice. Woody won’t leave his team to face aliens alone, as they wouldn’t leave him. He could choose the boring life, and maybe Zach would come to resent him. Maybe they’re doomed either way. But the least they can do is try, and this is the right choice.

Swallowing, he lifts up the helmet and pulls it on.

“This time,” Zach says with a toothy grin, catching the others’ eyes, “the aliens don’t stand a chance.”

**Author's Note:**

> R&R, hit me up on my [tumblr](http://miss-ingno.tumblr.com) or my [AH sideblog](http://funfahcts.tumblr.com), leave a comment!
> 
> This was a monster to write, and I know it's a little rushed in parts, but I wanted to post it before my life turns back upside down.


End file.
